Boeing Co has pushed back delivery of its first 787 Dreamliner by several weeks, a widely expected decision but also the latest in a series of embarrassing glitches that have disrupted production of the hotly anticipated aircraft. The postponement of the carbon-composite airplane, already more than two years behind schedule, is attributed to a delay in the availability of a Rolls-Royce engine needed for the final phases of flight testing, Reuters reported. "The plane is a show-me plane at this point and I think everyone knows that," said Alex Hamilton, managing director with boutique investment bank EarlyBirdCapital. "I'll believe it when I see it." The U.S. planemaker now expects to deliver the first carbon-composite plane to Japan's All Nippon Airways (ANA) by the middle of the first quarter of 2011. Boeing, the second-largest plane maker after EADS unit Airbus, said in July its delivery schedule might slip from the fourth quarter of 2010. The company blamed "instrument configuration" and inspection work. Shares of Boeing, a Dow industrials component, fell in early trading on news of the latest delay but by midmorning had firmed to $63.10, up nearly 3 percent on the New York Stock Exchange. "I think frankly the market is very reassured if the delays, in fact, are limited to this February delivery date," said Kenneth Herbert, an analyst at Wedbush Securities. "That's a significant retirement of some of the worst case-scenarios." Boeing has taken 847 orders for the Dreamliner, which lists for $150 million to $205.5 million depending on the model, making it the company's best-selling airplane at this stage in development. Boeing gets paid for planes at delivery.
